Nashville

David Briley, who has been serving as Nashville mayor on an interim basis since the resignation of former Mayor Megan Barry, won the position at the ballot box Thursday in a special election.

Briley got 44,707 votes, 54.47 percent of those cast for the 13 candidates seeking the race. He thus wins the seat outright, avoiding the need under Nashville’s rules for a runoff that would have taken place had Briley fell below 50 percent.

Former Metro Nashville Councilman Lonnell Matthews Jr. won the Democratic nomination as Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk on Tuesday with state Rep. Sherry Jones finishing second in the five-candidate contest.

Matthews had 25,073 votes to Jones’ 22,517 with Michael Joyner third with 10,407. Winning the Democratic nomination is tantamount to victory in the August general election since no Republican sought the office.

Note: Full election results from the Davidson County primary elections are HERE.

David Briley, Nashville’s vice mayor for the past two and a half years, was sworn in as Metro government’s eighth mayor Tuesday evening, replacing Megan Barry who resigned in disgrace earlier in the day, reports The Tennessean.